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475- - 

.53 

attle of Gettysburg 

How GeivercLl Meo^de Txirned the 

Army of the PotomoLC over 

to Lieutenant Haskell 

See Page 10 








FVBLISHED BT 

THE PHILADELPHIA BRIGADE 

ASSOCIATION 




Glass i^^J ^ 



BOWERS PRINTING COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



REPLY OF THE 

PHILADELPHIA BRIGADE 
ASSOCIATION 

TO THE 

FOOLISH and ABSURD NARRATIVE 

OF 
Lieutenant FRANK A. HASKELL 

WHICH APPEARS TO BE 
ENDORSED BY 

THE MILITARY ORDER OF THE 
LOYAL LEGION 

COMMANDRY OF MASSACHUSETTS 
AND 

THE WISCONSIN HISTORY 
COMMISSION 



COMPLIMENTS OF THE 

PHILADELPHIA BRIGADE ASSOCIATION 

MARCH, mo 

FH)!jU>eu»H»*, PA. 






MAY 2 1910 



r 



HEADQUARTERS, 

PHILADELPHIA BRIGADE ASSOCIATION, 

S. W. COR. FIFTH AND CHESTNUT STREETS, 

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

At the stated meeting of the Survivors of the Philadel- 
phia Brigade, Second Brigade, Second Division, Second 
Corps, Army of the Potomac, held at the above place, 
Tuesday evening, September 7, 1909, letters were read 
from Gen. Alexander S. Webb, who commanded the 
Philadelphia Brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 
I, 2 and 3, 1863, requesting the consideration of the 
Brigade Association to the most astounding misstate- 
ments made by First Lieut. Frank Aretas Haskell, 6th 
Wisconsin Infantry, in a paper said to have been written 
by him under date of July 16, 1863, two weeks after the 
Battle of Gettysburg had been fought and addressed to 
his brother, who printed it for private circulation about 
fifteen years afterward. 

The letters of Gen. Webb were accompanied by a vol- 
ume of 94 pages, containing the most absurd statements 
as to the action of the Philadelphia Brigade at the Battle 
of Gettysburg, which, upon being read, led to the unani- 
mous adoption of the following preamble and resolu- 
tion: 

"WHEREAS, in the 'Narrative of the Battle of Get- 
tysburg,* by Lieut. Frank A. Haskell, First Lieut. 6th 
Wisconsin Infantry, and an aide upon the staff of Gen. 
John Gibbon, said to have been written within a few 
days after the battle, and reprinted in 1898 as a part of 
the history of the Class of 1854, Dartmouth College, 
and republished in 1908 under the auspices of the Mas- 
sachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the 



2 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

Loyal Legion of the United States, the Philadelphia 
Brigade has been recklessly, and shamelessly, and 
grossly misrepresented; therefore, with the view of cor- 
recting these wilfull misstatements, it is 

"RESOLVED, That a committee consisting of the 
officers of the Philadelphia Brigade Association, to- 
gether with tv/o comrades from each of the four regi- 
ments of the Brigade, be appointed to carefully consider 
the matter, and, if deemed advisable by the committee, 
to publicly enter its protest against the malicious state- 
ments 'reprinted in i8g8 as a part of the history of the 
Class of 1854 of Dartmouth College,' and again repub- 
lished by the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts in 1908, 
with a degree of recklessness and disregard for truth 
unparalleled in any publication relating to the Civil War ; 
statements so false and malevolent as to be wholly un- 
worthy of a class of Dartmouth College, or of a Com- 
mandery of the Loyal Legion of the United States; of 
the name of Capt. Daniel Hall, of General Howard's staff 
— who prepared the story for publication — or of 'Chas. 
Kunt, Captain U. S. V., Committee on Publication.' " 

The committee named under this resolution consists 
of these Comrades : Wm. G. Mason, Commander ; John 
Quinton, Vice-Comm.ander ; Chas. W. Devitt, Quarter- 
master; John W. Frazier, Adjutant; John E. Reilly, 
Wm. S. Stockton, Joseph MacCarroU and James Thomp- 
son, Trustees, and Edward Thompson and James Duffy, 
6gth; John W. Dampman and Edward P. McMahon, 
71st; John Reed and Thos J. Longacre, 72d; Wm. H. 
Neiler and Thos. Thompson, io6th Regiment, Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteers. 

An examination by the Philadelphia Brigade Asso- 
ciation of the records relating to the "Narrative" written 
by Lieut. Haskell, discloses these facts: 

First — That Lieut. Haskell entered the service in July, 
1 86 1, as First Lieutenant of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry, 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 3 

and in June, 1862, became an Aide-de-Camp upon the 
Staff of Brigadier General John Gibbon, and was serv- 
ing as such at the time he wrote his "Narrative" of the 
Battle of Gettysburg. On February 9, 1864, Haskell was 
commissioned Colonel of the 36th Wisconsin Regiment, 
which at his request was assigned to the First Brigade, 
Second Division, Second Corps, Army of the Potomac. 
The Division was commanded by Gen. Gibbon, Gen. 
Hancock commanding the Corps. In the advance of 
Gibbon's Division at the Battle of Cold Harbor, against 
a strongly intrenched position, Col. Henry McKeen, who 
commanded the First Brigade, was killed. Colonel Has- 
kell succeeded to the command, and he, too, fell mor- 
tally wounded under the heavy artillery and musketry 
fire, against which his Brigade advanced. Haskell' rec- 
ord as a soldier of the Civil War is, therefore, an envi- 
able one; but as a writer of events of the war he was 
absurd, reckless and unreliable. 

Second — The manuscript alleged to have been pre- 
pared by Lieut. Haskell, as stated by him, "At the Head- 
quarters, second Corps D'Armee, Army of the Potomac, 
near Harper's Ferry, July 16, 1863," was sent to his 
brother, who printed it about fifteen years later in a 
pamphlet of 72 pages for private circulation. 

Third — The book was reprinted in i8g8 as part of the 
History of the Class of 1854, Dartmouth College, in 
honor of Colonel Haskell's memory, but with certain 
omissions that severely reflected upon the Eleventh 
Corps, Gen. Sickles and President Lincoln, which are 
explained in a foot-note by Capt. Daniel Hall, a class- 
mate of Haskell's, who was an Aide upon the Staff of 
Gen. O. O. Howard, and who prepared the Haskell story 
for republication. 

Fourth — The pamphlet published in 1878, by Has- 
kell's family for private circulation, contained 72 pages; 
the costly volume published in 1908, under the auspices 



4 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

of the Commandery of Massachusetts, Loyal Legion of 
the United States, prepared by Captain Daniel Hall, an 
Aide upon the Staff of Gen. Howard, Commander of the 
Eleventh Corps, with the official endorsement of "Chas. 
Hunt, Captain, U. S. V., Committee on Publication" is 
a book of 94 pages; therefore, apparently containing 
much more matter than was originally published by the 
Haskell family in 1878. 

The charge of cowardice on the part of the Philadel- 
phia Brigade, purported to have been made by Lieut. 
Haskell, is printed on pages 60, 61 and 62 of the volume 
published by the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts, and 
is in part as follows: 

"Unable to find my General, I gave up hunting as use- 
less — I was convinced General Gibbon could not be on 
the field ; I left him mounted ; I could have easily found 
him now had he so remained, but now, save myself, there 
was not a mounted officer near the engaged lines — and 
v/as riding towards the right of the Second Division, 
with purpose to stop there, as the most eligible position 
to watch the further progress of the battle, then to be 
ready to take part, according to my own notions, wher- 
ever and whenever occasion presented. The conflict 
was tremendous, but I had seen no wavering in all our 
line. Wondering how long the rebel ranks, deep though 
they were, could stand our sheltered volleys, I had come 
near my destination, when — great heavens! were my 
senses mad? — the larger portion of Webb's Brigade — 
my God, it was true — there by the group of trees and 
the angles of the wall, was breaking from the cover of 
the works, and without orders or reason, with no hand 
uplifted to check them, was falling back, a fear-stricken 
flock of confusion. The fate of Gettysburg hung upon 
a spider's single thread. A great magnificent passion 
came on me at the instant; not one that overpowers and 
confounds, but one that blanches the face and sublimes 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 5 

every sense and faculty. My sword that had always 
hung idle by my side, the sign of rank only, in every 
battle, I drew, bright and gleaming, the symbol of com- 
mand. Was not that a fit occasion and those fugitives 
the men on whom to try the temper of the Solingen 
steel? All rules and proprieties were forgotten, all con- 
siderations of person and danger and safety despised; 
for as I met the tide of those rabbits, the damned red 
flags of the rebellion began to thicken and flaunt along 
the wall they had just deserted, and one was already 
waving over the guns of the dead Gushing. I ordered 
those men to 'halt,' and 'face about,' and 'fire,' and they 
heard my voice and gathered my meaning, and obeyed 
my commands. On some unpatriotic backs, of those 
not quick of comprehension, the flat of my sabre fell, not 
lightly; and at its touch their love of country returned, 
and with a look at me as if I were the destroying angel, 
as I might have become theirs, they again faced the 
enemy. General Webb soon came to my assistance. He 
was on foot, but he was active, and did all that one 
could do to repair the breach or to avert its calamity." 

Colonels O'Kane and Tschudy, of the 69th, were killed 
in action ; Baxter, of the yad, wounded and carried off 
the field; Morehead and his io6th Regiment had been 
sent by Gibbon to the support of Howard's Corps, 
thereby materially weakening the Brigade ; Col. R. Penn 
Smith, of the 71st, and Lieut. Col. Theo. Hesser, of the 
72d, were with their commands — which they never left — 
encouraging their men to even greater deeds of heroism ; 
Webb is yet living and in a supplemental paper to this 
Reply will state specifically where the Commander of 
the Brigade and his Adjutant were and what they did. 

While Haskell has long been dead — killed in action at 
Cold Harbor, in 1864, and it seems cruel to speak harshly 
of the dead, yet duty to the living, and to the honored 
dead of the Philadelphia Brigade compels reply. The 



6 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

unreliability of Lieut, Haskell as a writer of militarjr 
matters was equaled only by the egotism of the youthful 
Lieutenant. Thus this reckless First Lieutenant wrote 
of General Howard and General Doubleday, and thus 
he maligned the brave men of the Eleventh Corps : 

"The two divisions of the Eleventh Corps commanded. 
by Generals Schurz and Barlow, making but feeble op- 
position to the advancing enemy, soon began to fall back^ 
Back in disorganized masses they fled into the town, 
hotly pursued, and in lanes, in barns, in yards and cel- 
lars, throwing away their arms, they sought to hide like 
rabbits, and were captured unresisting by hundreds. 

"I suppose our losses during the first day would exceed 
five thousand, of whom a large number were prisoners. 
Such usually is the kind of loss sustained by the Eleventh 
Corps." (Haskell narrative, page 6.) 

The actual loss of the Eleventh Corps was 153 officers- 
and 2,138 men killed and wounded, and 62 officers and 
1,448 men captured and missing, a total of 3,801, thereby 
attesting that at least 2,291 brave men of the Eleventh 
Corps did not "hide like rabbits," but that they fell like 
heroes facing the enemy. 

And thus of General Doubleday as to his action dur- 
ing Pickett's Charge on the afternoon of the third day: 

"Doubleday on the left was too far off, and too slow.- 
On another occasion I had begged him to send his idle 
regiments to support another line, battling with thrice 
its numbers, and the 'Old Sumter Hero' had declined." 
(Haskell narrative, page 62,) 

If Haskell, or any other first lieutenant, would dare toi 
have had the impudence to direct a Major General, and 
he a graduate of West Point, a soldier of distinction in 
the Mexican War, and placed in command of the First 
Corps upon the death of Gen. Reynolds, is it not more 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 7 

i:han likely, indeed, does it not seem certain that such a 
presumptuous lieutenant would have been sent back to 
his command under guard, if not committed to the guard 
house ? 

And did not Capt. Daniel Hall, an Aide upon General 
Howard's Staff, who prepared the Haskell "Narrative" 
for republication ; and the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion, Commandery of Massachusetts, in publishing 
the Haskell "Narrative" become responsible for the Has- 
kell slander upon Generals Howard and Doubleday, and 
the brave men of the gallant Eleventh Corps, and of the 
Philadelphia Brigade? 

The egotism and recklessness of Haskell are in evi- 
dence upon almost every page of his book. On page 39 
he says : 

"I heard General Meade express dissatisfaction at 
General Geary for making his attack. I heard General 
Meade say that he sent an order to have the fight stopped, 
but I believe the order was not given to Geary until 
after the repulse of the enemy." Is it not clear that if 
such an order had been sent and obeyed, the enemy 
would not have been repulsed? Is it anywhere upon rec- 
ord that General Meade sent such an order? 

On page 82 of the Haskell "Narrative" of the Battle of 
Gettysburg appears this silly statement: 

"About six o'clock on the afternoon of the third of 
July, my duties done upon the field, I quitted it to go 
to the General (meaning Gibbon), My brave horse 
Dick — poor creature! his good conduct in the battle 
that afternoon had been complimented by a brigadier — 
was a sight to see. He was literally covered with blood. 
Struck repeatedly, his right thigh had been ripped open 
in a ghastly manner by a piece of shell, and three bullets 
were lodged deep in his body, and from his wounds the 
blood oozed and ran down his sides and legs, and with 



8 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

the sweat formed a bloody foam. To Dick belongs the 
honor of first mounting that stormy crest before the 
enemy, not forty yards away, whose bullets smote him, 
and of being the only horse there during the heat of 
that battle." 

Haskell might, with equal truth and egotism, have 
written: "To Dick and his rider belong the honor of 
meeting and repulsing Pickett's Division," and who can 
say that it would not have been accorded equally as 
generous consideration by the Loyal Legion of Massa- 
chusetts, and the History Commission of Wisconsin, as 
was given to all the other nonsense he wrote of the Battle 
of Gettysburg. 

It has been said of Pickett's Virginians, that accus- 
tomed to handling a gun, or rifle, from boyhood, any 
one of them could kill a jay bird at a distance of 150 
yards, but not one of Pickett's Division of 4,000 Vet- 
erans could kill that horse or that first lieutenant, and 
they the only horse and man in sight, and not forty 
yards away, parading between Hancock's Corps of the 
Union Army and Longstreet's Corps of the Confed- 
erate Army. 

Oh! Veterans of Pickett's Division, you who killed 
or wounded 491 of our Comrades of the Philadelphia 
Brigade from the time you began one of the most des- 
perate charges ever recorded in the history of wars> 
starting from Seminary Ridge, one mile distant from 
the Bloody Angle, until you reached the culminating 
point where the intrepid Armistead fell mortally 
wounded within the lines of the Philadelphia Brigade. 
You who made such slaughter in OUR RANKS AT 
LONG RANGE could not kill First Lieutenant Frank 
Aretas Haskell, or his horse, and they not forty yards 
distant from your firing line, and he "the one solitary 
horseman between the Second Division of Hancock's 
Corps and Pickett's Division of Longstreet's Corps.'' 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 9 

And the Military Order, Loyal Legion, Commandery 
of Massachusetts, and the History Commission of Wis- 
consin, as late as the year 1908 in expensive publica- 
tions confirm the Haskell "Narrative" of his wild 
"Buffalo Bill" ride between the Union and Confederate 
lines, and depicting your skill as marksmen, with a 
horse and officer as the inviting target not forty yards 
distant — defying the bullets of the most skillful marks- 
men of the Confederate Army. 

Is there a veteran soldier of the Civil War, or even 
a thoughtful man in the United States, who believes 
this part of Haskell's Narrative "of riding between the 
lines the one solitary horseman, and he not forty yards 
distant from the enemy?" Do Captains Daniel Hall 
and Charles Hunt, the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts, 
and Wisconsin History Commission, themselves endors- 
ing it, really believe it? 

It was on the third day that "Dick" was plugged 
with enough of Confederate lead to have warranted 
Haskell in organizing a Company to mine the lead in 
"Dick's" dead body. His horse "Billy" was pumped 
just as full of lead on the second day, as this absurd 
statement on page 37 attests: 

"And my horse can hardly move. What can be the 
reason? I know that he has been touched by two of 
their bullets today, but not to wound or lame him to 
speak of. I foolishly spurred my horse again. No 
use — he would only walk. I dismounted; I could not 
lead him along. So, out of temper, I rode him to 
headquarters, which I reached at last. With a light I 
found what was the matter with 'Billy.' A bullet had 
entered his chest just in front of my left leg as I was 
mounted, and the blood was running down all his side 
and leg, and the air from his lungs came out of the 
bullet hole. I rode him at the Second Bull Run, and 
at the First and Second Fredericksburg, and at Antie- 



10 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

tarn after brave *Joe' was killed, but I shall never 
mount him again. 'Billy's' battles are over." 

Just one more instance of the scores of the colossal 
vanity of Haskell. It tells how General Meade turned 
the command of the Army of the Potomac over to the 
youthful First Lieutenant of Infantry — Frank Aretas 
Haskell. It is to be found on pages 69 and 70 of the 
Haskell "Narrative." The battle had ended, and the 
Napoleon of Gettysburg, while patting himself on the 
back, was planting data in his mind for printing in his 
"Narrative," and thus Paul planted, and the Apollos of 
Massachusetts and Wisconsin watered. 

"Would to heaven Generals Hancock and Gibbon 
could have stood where I did, and have looked upon 
that field. But they are both severely wounded and 
have been carried from the field. One person did come, 
and he was no less than Major-General Meade, who 
rode up accompanied alone by his son — an escort not 
large for a commander of such an army. As he arrived 
near me he asked, 'How is it going here?' I answered^ 
'I believe, General, the army is repulsed.' With a touch 
of incredulity he further asked, 'What! IS THE AS- 
SAULT ENTIRELY REPULSED?' I replied, 'It is, 
sir.' And then his right hand moved as if he would 
have caught off his hat and waved it, but instead he 
waved his hand and said, 'Hurrah!' He asked where 
Hancock and Gibbon were, but before I had time to 
answer that I did not know, he resumed, 'No matter, 
I will give my orders to You, and YOU will see them 
executed.' He then gave directions that the troops 
should be reformed as soon as practicable, and kept in 
their places, as the enemy might be mad enough to 
attack again, adding, 'IF THE ENEMY DOES AT- 
TACK, CHARGE HIM IN THE FLANKS AND 
SWEEP HIM FROM THE FIELD— do you under- 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG U 

stand?' The General then, a gratified man, galloped 
in the direction of his headquarters." 

Of course. General Meade rode back to his head- 
quarters a gratified man. Had he not just received 
the information from First Lieutenant Haskell that the 
enemy had been "entirely repulsed?" and had not Meade 
issued an order to this Wellington of Lee's Waterloo to 
sweep the enemy from the field, if he were mad enough 
to renew the attack, by charging him on the flanks? 
General Meade's order to Haskell was so sedately hu- 
morous as to leave us in doubt as to whether the First 
Lieutenant and his horse alone were to charge the 
enemy's flanks, or for Lieutenant Napoleon Wellington 
Haskell to order the First, Eleventh and Twelfth Corps 
to charge his left flank, and the Third, Fifth and Sixth 
Corps his right flank, while Haskell and Dick swept 
his centre from the field. 

And this is the "narrative" that a Loyal Legion and a 
History Commission feel honored in publishing. If the 
object was to prove that they were just as vainglorious 
as Haskell, has not this fact been fully established by 
their published books? Vaccinated by the Haskell virus 
of vanity and venom, the buffoonery of Haskell has 
been transmitted by a Military Order of the Loyal Le- 
gion, and the History Commission of a great State, to 
their admiring friends and the public. Like Haskell, 
"A great, magnificent passion came on them that seem- 
ingly sublimed every sense and faculty — when, great 
heavens! their senses mad," the Battle of Gettysburg, 
by Frank Aretas Haskell, First Lieutenant, Sixth Wis- 
consin Infantry, was "published under the auspices of 
the Commandery of the State of Massachusetts, Military 
Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and 
the Wisconsin History Commission." 

General Roy Stone, of Pennsylvania, commanded the 
Second Brigade, Third Division, First Corps, at Get- 



12 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

tysburg. Upon receiving serious wounds he was car- 
ried from the field, and Colonel Langhorne Wister, of 
Philadelphia, commanding the 150th Pennsylvania Regi- 
ment, succeeded to the command of the Brigade, and 
the Lieutenant-Colonel took command of the Regiment, 
and soon after was shot in the leg, remaining in com- 
mand until his right arm was shattered. Carried into 
an adjacent barn, used temporarily as a hospital, the 
flow of blood was stopped by a tourniquet, and the arm 
bandaged — occupying about thirty minutes — after which 
he returned to his regiment and assumed command, 
maintaining the line held by it until the excruciating 
pain and faintness from shock and loss of blood com- 
pelled him to retire. The next day his arm was ampu- 
tated at the shoulder. 

For that — perhaps — unprecedented instance of hero- 
ism at Gettysburg the Lieutenant-Colonel of the 150th 
Pennsylvania was awarded a Congressional Medal of 
Honor; he was promoted for bravery on the field of 
battle, and this is what he. General Henry S. Huideko- 
per, of Philadelphia, a member of the Loyal Legion, 
Commandery of Pennsylvania, says of Haskell's book: 

"In the first print much of what Haskell said was sup- 
pressed, and we cannot but regret that any of it was 
made public, for, from a historical standpoint, the story 
is inaccurate and misleading, and from an ethical stand- 
point it is indecent, venomous, scandalous and vain- 
glorious." 

And this is the "narrative" that the Military Order of 
the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts, and the History 
Commission of Wisconsin, have recently published in 
attractive and costly form, giving the same wide circu- 
lation, unmindful of the fact that thereby they are inflict- 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 13 

ing irreparable injury to both the living and the heroic 
<iead. 

THE PHILADELPHIA BRIGADE. 

Colonel Chas. H. Banes, late President of the Market 
Street National Bank, was a typical soldier of the Civil 
War; he was a leading member of the Baptist Church 
in Philadelphia, and was as devout as a Christian as 
he was heroic as a Volunteer Soldier. In 1876 Colonel 
Banes published an interesting volume, entitled, "His- 
tory of the Philadelphia Brigade." No man was as 
competent as he to write such a history, inasmuch as he 
had long been the Adjutant of the Brigade and in pos- 
session of all its records. In his preface to that book 
Colonel Banes says: 

"The four regiments of the Brigade were composed 
chiefly of Volunteers from the city of Philadelphia, and 
for that reason might properly be called the Philadelphia 
Brigade. It consisted of the 69th, 71st, 72d, and io6th 
Regiments of Pennsylvania Volunteers. The command 
had from the first enrollment until the muster out 350 
field, staff and line officers, and over 6,000 non-commis- 
sioned officers and privates. The officers and men of 
the regiments were equal in courage, endurance and dis- 
cipline to the best commands of the army, and their 
soldierly bearing on the march and in battle helped to 
make the history of the Army of the Potomac." 

As to the charge of cowardice against a Brigade that 
lost 3,533 in killed, wounded, deaths from other causes, 
and missing, made under the auspices of Dartmouth 
College, and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of 
the United States, Commandery of Massachusetts, is so 
positive, so indecent, so scandalous, so brutal, and so 
absolutely false, the Philadelphia Brigade, in formulat- 
ing a reply to these malicious and infamous violations 



14 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

of facts, has deemed it proper to submit, as briefly as- 
possible, extracts from Colonel Banes' "History of the 
Philadelphia Brigade," about what the Old Brigade did 
from the time it received the order to move from Fal- 
mouth, Va., until it met and turned backward the charge 
of Pickett's Division at the "Bloody Angle" of Gettys- 
burg, on the afternoon of July 3, 1863. 

BANES VERSUS HASKELL. 

That "History of the Philadelphia Brigade," by- 
Colonel Chas. H. Banes, which records with absolute 
truthfulness the part taken by the Philadelphia Brigade 
from Ball's Bluff to Appomattox, was written with the 
calm deliberation and adherence to facts characteristic 
of the man who stood foremost among his fellow citizens 
of Pennsylvania for business integrity. Christian recti- 
tude, and American manhood and honor, and sensitive 
in the highest degree of his honor, and herewith is what 
that manly man, comrade and companion, Colonel Chas. 
H, Banes, Adjutant of the Philadelphia Brigade, records 
in his history regarding the battle at the Bloody Angle 
of Gettysburg, and the march from Falmouth immedi- 
ately preceding that great battle: 

"On Sunday, June 14th, our Division was ordered to> 
move at very short notice. At about midnight the Sec- 
ond Division, the last of the Army, moved from Fal- 
mouth, obstructing the roads behind the column. At 
noon, June 15th, the command reached Stafford Court 
House, where it halted two hours; then resuming the 
march bivouacked at night five miles from Dumfries. 
The day was very hot, the roads were filled with dust,, 
and the march of 28 miles was so oppressive that a 
number of the men fell from sunstroke and exhaustion. 

"At about two A. M., on the i6th, the Brigade started 
from Dumfries, where we halted a few hours. After 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 15 

taking up the march through Wolf Run Shoals, Occo- 
quan Creek, we camped for the night on a fine farm 
belonging to an old bachelor named Steele, who was 
very anxious that we should raise money to pay for the 
damage to his crops. He did not succeed, his uninvited 
guests being ragged and penniless. On the 17th we 
reached Sangster's Station, Orange and Alexandria Rail- 
road. Here the Corps formed in line of battle, facing 
towards Bull Run. 

"After maneuvering and countermarching the com- 
mand started on the 20th through Bull Run and Gaines- 
ville to Thoroughfare Gap, where we arrived at midnight. 
The last part of the march was very severe, and in the 
darkness men frequently stumbled over rocks, and into 
ditches. 

"The Second Corps remained at this place guarding 
the pass until the morning of June 25th. Two miles 
below this point there was a less frequented road, but 
one easy of access, which was effectually blocked up for 
some time to come by a detachment from the Brigade, 
who were furnished with axes, with which trees were 
felled in large numbers and thrown across the road. 

"After leaving Thoroughfare Gap the Division was 
assailed by a battery while marching through Hay Mar- 
ket. Before this was silenced a few of the command 
-were killed and wounded. Passing through Cub Run 
the column crossed the Potomac at Edward's Ferry at 
eleven o'clock on the night of June 26th. 

"The next day the march was continued beyond 
Barnestown, Maryland; and on the 28th our Corps ar- 
rived two miles from Frederick, where the Brigade was 
ordered to establish a picket covering the right of the 
Corps near the Monocacy. 

"On the day of our arrival at this point General 
Hooker, at his own request, was relieved from com- 
mand, and Major-General George G. Meade, command- 



16 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

ing the Fifth Corps, was designated as Commander-in- 
Chief in his stead. There were other changes made of 
subordinate commanders at the same time. Among 
these was the assignment of Brigadier-General Alexan- 
der S. Webb to command the Second Brigade as suc- 
cessor to Brigadier-General Owen. 

"General Webb, although an officer of note in the 
regular service, was unknown to the majority of the 
command, but his force of character and personal gal- 
lantry soon won the regard of the Brigade to as great 
an extent as that obtained by any of his predecessors. 

"The advance of the Second Corps was begun early on 
the morning of June 29th, and, with but few halts, it 
was continued throughout the day. After tramping 
through the stifling dust under a burning sun, in heavy 
marching order, a distance of more than 31 miles. Union- 
town was reached, where the troops remained during 
the 30th. On July ist the advance was again resumed 
until a point four miles from Gettysburg was reached, 
where a halt was made." 

Thus it was the Philadelphia Brigade reached Gettys- 
burg, after marching about 170 miles from Falmouth to 
Gettysburg, in mid-summer, under a blazing sun, with 
dust ankle-deep, as the rear guard of the Army of the 
Potomac, obstructing roads while on the march, silenc- 
ing batteries of the enemy, performing picket duty, and 
doing the rear-guard work for a great army, and when 
on the march making from 20 to 30 miles a day — on 
June 29th marching more than 31 miles — and on July ist 
marching from Uniontown, 20 miles distant, to within 
four miles of Gettysburg. On the morning of July 2d, 
at early dawn, marched a distance of four miles, placed 
in position at Cemetery Ridge, and taking part in the 
second day's battle, as herewith further described by 
Colonel Banes: 

"On July 2d, at early dawn, the Corps was moved to 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 17 

the front and placed in position along Cemetery Ridge, 
connecting on its right with the left of Howard's Corps ; 
while the Third Corps, under Sickles, was ordered to 
connect on the left and extend to Round Top. 

"The Philadelphia Brigade, before taking its place in 
line, was massed on the edge of a wood, near the Taney- 
town Road, and a field return was made by the adjutant 
of each regiment. Out of the entire number present for 
duty when General Webb assumed command at Fred- 
erick, there were but 13 men absent without leave; and 
some of these, who had given out on the march, rejoined 
their comrades before the action. 

"By order of General Gibbon, commanding the Di- 
vision, the Philadelphia Brigade was put in position at 
six and a half o'clock A. M. on the 2d, on Granite Ridge, 
on the right of the Division, its right resting on Cush- 
ing's Battery A, Fourth United States Artillery, and its 
left on Battery B, First Rhode Island Artillery, Lieu- 
tenant Brown commanding. The 69th Regiment was 
placed behind a fence, a little in advance of the ridge, 
the remaining three regiments of the Brigade under 
cover of the hill in the rear. 

"Immediately after assuming this position, a detail^ 
ordered from each regiment, was advanced as skirmish- 
ers beyond the Emmettsburg Road and parallel with 
the Confederate line of battle on Seminary Ridge. This 
disposition was scarcely completed before the enemy 
opened with sharpshooters and artillery. 

"A few hundred yards in front of our line of battle 
and towards the left, a farm house and buildings were 
located. To prevent these affording cover to the enemy, 
they were occupied by the Brigade pioneers, with orders 
to destroy them upon a signal from General Webb. Dur- 
ing the fight of Sickles the Brigade skirmishers were 
engaged for an hour with those of the enemy, both par- 
ties suffering losses, but neither giving ground. This 



18 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

contest was in full view of the entire Corps, and the 
manly bearing of their comrades was a matter of pride 
to the men of the Philadelphia Brigade. That portion 
of the field lying between Granite and Seminary Ridge 
being an open plain without trees or shelter, the con- 
tests of our skirmishers were literally a series of duels 
fought with rifles at an easy range. 

" The enemy made the assault on the 2d at about six 
and a half P. M. Their line of battle advanced beyond 
one gun of Brown's Battery, receiving at that point the 
fire of the 69th, of the 71st, advanced to the support of 
the 6gth, of the 7 2d and of the io5th, which had previ- 
ously been moved to the left by command of General 
Hancock. Colonel Baxter at this time was wounded. 
The enemy maneuvred and fell back, pursued by the 
io6th, 72d and part of the 71st. The 72d and io6th fol- 
lov/ed them to the Emmettsburg Road, capturing and 
sending to the rear about 250 prisoners, among whom 
were one colonel, five captains and fifteen lieutenants.' " 

"The assault, thus officially reported by Webb, was 
executed with much celerity, and when the column of 
the enemy burst forth from the woods on Seminary 
Ridge, it seemed but a few moments before the Em- 
mettsburg Road was crossed, and our skirmishers driven 
like leaves before the wind. As the Confederates ad- 
vanced, Brown's Battery, with the exception of one gun, 
was withdrawn to the rear of the 69th. Over this piece 
there was a fierce struggle, but the fire of the Brigade 
was terribly severe, causing the enemy to hesitate and 
then fall hack. Those of the Confederates in the lead 
threw down their guns and cried out with an oath: 
*Get us out of this; it is too hot here.' 

"And now a countercharge was made by the Philadel- 
phia Brigade, along with those of other Brigades; the 
assaulting column was rolled back almost as quickly as 
it had advanced. The skirmish line was reformed on 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 19 

its old connection, and shortly after, night coming on, 
the fight on our portion of the line was over for the 
2d of July. 

"The pioneers in their exposed position were made 
prisoners by the enemy, and the guard left by the cap- 
tors remained at the farm house with their charge, in- 
tending to move to the rear as soon as the heavy firing 
was over. This decision was fortunate for our detail, 
but unfortunate for the enemy, as the advance of Webb's 
regiments swept by the improvised guard house and 
changed the relation of its occupants. 

"The io6th Regiment was ordered to report to Gen- 
eral Howard, who placed it on the right of the Baltimore 
Pike, near Rickett's Battery, where it remained until the 
close of the battle. This regiment was highly compli- 
mented by General Howard. 

"On the morning of July 3d the 69th Regiment occu- 
pied the same line at the fence in front of the clump of 
trees on the ridge that it held the day before, while the 
71st was deployed and connected with its right. One 
wing of the 71st was stationed at the fence, while the 
other was behind a stone wall to the right cmd rear. 
The 72d was held in reserve, forming a second line to 
the left of Brown's Battery, and in the rear of Colonel 
Hall's Third Brigade. 

"After the contest at Gulp's Hill there was a mo- 
mentary pause in the operations of both armies. This 
unusual calm was only broken by an occasional gun, or 
the discharge of a sharpshooter's rifle. About one 
o'clock, when the men were wondering what the next 
movement would be in this great battle, a single Whit- 
worth gun was fired from the extreme left of Seminary 
Ridge, a distance of three miles. The bolt just reached 
the right of our Brigade. Then at intervals along the 
entire line solitary shots were fired, as if intended for 
signal guns of preparation. These were quickly fol- 



20 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

lowed by others, and in a few moments there burst 
forth from the whole Confederate line a most terrific 
fire of artillery. One hundred and twenty guns concen- 
trated their fire on that portion of Meade's position held 
by the Second Division, Second Corps, Shell, round 
shot, Whitworth bolts, and spherical case were flying 
over and exploding about us at the same time. Almost 
every second ten of these missiles were in the air; each, 
as it went speeding on its message of death, indicating 
its form by a peculiar sound. The shrieking of shells, 
or the heavy thud of round shot, v/ere easily distin- 
guished from the rotary whizzing of the Whitworth 
bolt. 

"When these agents of destruction commenced their 
horrid work, no portion of the line, from the front to a 
point far in the rear of the Taneytown Road, afforded 
any protection against their fury. Men who had been 
struck while serving the guns and were limping towards 
the hospital, were frequently wounded again before they 
had gone a hundred yards. 

"In spite of the ghastly forms of mangled men and 
horses, and in spite of the dismantled guns, exploding 
limbers, and other scenes of horror, produced by Lee's 
attack, the guns of Meade roared back their defiance; 
while the infantry, powerless for the moment, rested on 
their arms awaiting the bayonet charge they knew was 
sure to follow. 

"Webb reports : 'By a quarter to three o'clock the 
■enemy had silenced the Rhode Island Battery, all the 
guns but one of Cushing's Battery, and had plainly 
shown, b): his concentration of fire on this and the Third 
Brigade, that an important assault was to be expected. 
I had sent, at two P. M., the Adjutant-General of the 
Brigade for two batteries to replace Cushing's and 
Brown's. Just before the assault, Captain Wheeler's 
First New York Artillery had got into position on the 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 21 

left in the place occupied by the Rhode Island Battery, 
which had retired with the loss of all its officers but 
one.' 

"When the New York Battery arrived and went into 
action, Lieutenant Gushing had but one of his guns left, 
and it was served by men of the 71st Regiment. The 
Lieutenant had been struck by a fragment of shell, but 
stood by his piece as calmly as if on parade, and as the 
Confederate infantry commenced to emerge from the 
woods opposite, Gushing quietly said, 'Webb, I will give 
them one shot more; good-bye.' The gun was loaded 
by the Galifornia men, and run down to the fence near 
the 69th, and at the moment of the last discharge,: 
just as the enemy reached the line, the brave Gush- 
ing fell mortally wounded. 

"At three o'clock the enemy's line of battle left the 
woods in our front, moved in perfect order across the 
Emmettsburg Road, formed in the hollow of our im- 
mediate front several lines of battle under a fire of 
spherical case-shot from Wheeler's Battery and Gush- 
ing's gun, and advanced for the assault. 

"The Union batteries increased their fire as rapidly 
as possible, but this did not for a moment delay the 
determined advance. The rude gaps torn by the shells 
and case-shot were closed as quickly as they were made. 
As nev/ batteries opened, the additional fire created no 
confusion in the ranks of the enemy; its only apparent 
effect was to mark the pathway over the mile of ad- 
vance with the dead and dying. None who saw this 
m.agnificent charge of Pickett's column, composed of 
thousands of brave men, could refrain from admiring 
its grandeur. As they approached the rail fence their 
formation was irregular, and near the front and centre 
were crowded together the regimental colors of the 
entire division ; the scene strangely illustrated the divine 
words, 'Terrible as an army with banners.' 



22 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

"Now our men close up their ranks and await the 
struggle. The Seventy-second, by direction of Webb, is 
double-quicked from its position on the left and fills 
the gap on the ridge where Cushing's Battery had been 
in action. Just at this moment Pickett's men reach the 
line occupied by the Sixty-ninth and the left companies 
of the Seventy-first. General Armistead, commanding 
the leading brigade, composed principally of Virginians, 
in advance of his men, swinging his hat on his sword, 
cries out, 'Boys, give them the cold steel!' Just then 
the white trefoil on the caps of our men is recognized, 
and Armistead's men exclaim, 'The Army of the Poto- 
mac! Do they call these militia?' 

"The final effort for success now commences. The 
advance companies of the Seventy-first are literally 
crowded out of their places by the enemy, and, with 
one company of the Sixty-ninth, they form with the 
remainder of Colonel Smith's command at the stone 
fence. At the same instant Colonel Hall's Third Brigade 
and the regiments of the First under Devereaux and 
other officers, as if by instinct, rush to Webb's assistance, 
while Colonel Stannard moves two regiments of the 
Vermont Brigade to strike the attacking column in the 
flank. 

"And now is the moment when the battle rages most 
furiously. Armistead, with a hundred and fifty of his 
Virginians, is inside our lines; only a few paces from 
our Brigade Commander, they look each other in the 
face. The artillery of the enemy ceases to fire, and the 
gunners of their batteries are plainly seen standing on 
their caissons to view the result, hoping for success, 
while Pettigrew's Division, failing to support Pickett, 
halts as if terrified at the scene. This is the soldiers' 
part of the fight; tactics and alignments are thrown to 
one side. No effort is made to preserve a formation. 
Union men are intermingled with the enemy, and in 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 23 

some cases surrounded by them, but refusing to sur- 
render. Rifles, bayonets and clubbed muskets are freely 
used, and men on both sides rapidly fall. 

"This struggle lasts but a few moments, when the 
enemy in the front throw down their arms, and rushing 
through the line of the Seventy-second, hasten to the 
rear as prisoners without a guard, while others of the 
column who might have escaped, unwilling to risk a 
retreat over the path by which they came, surrendered. 
The battle is over, the last attack of Lee at Gettysburg 
is repulsed, and the highest wave of the Rebellion has 
reached its farthest limit, ever after to recede. 

"General Armistead, v/ho was in the Confederate front, 
fell mortally wounded, close to the colors of the Seventy- 
second. One of the men of that regiment, who was near 
him, asked permission of the writer (Col. Chas. H. Banes, 
Adjutant Philadelphia Brigade), to carry him out of the 
battle, saying, 'He has called for help as THE SON OF 
A WIDOW, an order was given to take him to an 
ambulance, and when his revolver was removed from his 
belt, it was seen that he had obeyed his own command, 
*to give them the cold steel,' as no shot had been fired 
from it. 

"At the close of Gen. Webb's official report he states, 
'The Brigade captured nearly one thousand prisoners and 
six battle flags, and picked up fourteen hundred stand of 
arms and nine hundred sets of accoutrements. The loss 
was forty-three officers and four hundred and fifty-two 
men, and only forty-seven were missing. The conduct 
of this Brigade was most satisfactory.' " 



Compare the calm, temperate, lucid, truthful and dig- 
nified statement of Colonel Banes, who, as the Adjutant 
of the Philadelphia (Webb's) Brigade, was more familiar 
with its every movement than any officer or private 
soldier could possibly be; a statement prepared with de- 



24 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

liberation by a man of mature years, and ripened judg- 
ment, with that of the raving, distracted, ridiculous 
utterances of the youthful Lieut. Haskell, in his book 
said to have been hastily written within two weeks after 
the battle, written between his hours of duty, while on 
the march from Gettysburg back to Harper's Ferry, 
written by him while not yet fully recovered from the 
delirium of excitement that overcame him in the exalted 
position he claims to have assumed, that of Supersedeas 
Commander of the Army of the Potomac to annihilate 
the Confederate Army, in the event of its renewing 
the attack. 

It was the author Haskell who asked this question of 
Lieut. Haskell: 

"Great heavens! were my senses mad? — the larger por- 
tion of Webb's Brigade — my God! it is true, was break- 
ing from the cover of the works, without order or rea- 
son, with no hand uplifted to check them, was fallings 
back a fear-stricken flock of confusion. A GREAT, 
MAGNIFICENT PASSION OVERCAME ME as I 
met the tide of these rabbits," and a lot more of such in- 
coherent, disconnected trash, from the young Lieutenant 
so OVERCOME WITH A MAGNIFICENT PASSION 
that the aberration of mind which followed while writing 
that narrative was inevitable. 

Col. Banes says, "This struggle lasted but a few mo- 
ments, when the enemy in front threw down their arms, 
and, rushing through the lines of the Seventy-second' 
hastened to the rear as prisoners without a guard." 

It was these men of Pickett's Division hastening to the 
rear whom Haskell met, if ever he met any one fleeing 
to the rear on that occasion; but "Great heavens! his 
senses were mad." A "Magnificent Passion" overcame 
him. He was in a delirium of vainglory, and he mis- 
took the defeated Veterans of Pickett's Division, seeking 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 25 

shelter from impending death, for the victorious Veter- 
ans of the Philadelphia Brigade, and the MiUtary Order, 
Loyal Legion, Commandery of Massachusetts, and the 
History Commission of Wisconsin, also apparently over- 
come with a ^'Magnificent Passion" for book publishing, 
reprinted his "Narrative" to the world, as their adopted 
waif and heir. 



It has been asked, what could have been Haskell's ob- 
ject in so perverting the facts of history relative to the 
Battle of Gettysburg? Gen. Henry S. Hindekoper, of 
Philadelphia, who won high renown in the battle, aptly 
answers the question in the statement made by him, 
wherein he said of Haskell's "Narrative," that "from a 
historical standpoint it is inaccurate and misleading, and 
from an ethical standpoint it is indecent, venemous, 
scandalous and VAINGLORIOUS." 

After describing the first day's fight as minutely as 
though he had observed it all from the cupola of the 
Seminary Building on Seminary Ridge, Haskell thus 
seeks to acquit himself from all misstatements by saying : 
"Of the events of the first day of July I do not speak 
from personal knowledge." 

At two o'clock in the afternoon of July ist, Haskell 
was at Taneytown, 13 miles distant from Gettysburg, 
and between 8 and 9 o'clock in the evening the Second 
Corps was halted four miles south of Gettysburg, where 
it, and Lieut. Haskell, biouvacked for the night; there- 
fore — except detracting from officers and men who rend- 
ered heroic service — no glory came to Haskell on the first 
day. He "did not see what he thought he saw." 

At early dawn on July 2d Hancock's Corps was moved 
forward about four miles, and at 6.30 A. M. was placed 
in position on Cemetery Ridge. The Third Division 
(Hayes), on the right, connecting with the left of How- 
ard's Eleventh Corps; the First Division (Caldwell's), 



26 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

on the left, connecting with the right of Sickles, Third 
Corps, and the Second Division (Gibbon), in the centre, 
and Haskell started in early on the second day to catch 
fame, and thus, according to his own "Narrative," he suc- 
ceeded : 

"A bullet entered the chest of my horse, *Billy,' just 
in front of my left leg; a kick from a hitched horse in 
the dark that would likely have broken my ankle if it 
had not been for a very thick boot, but which did break 
my temper, and a bullet from a sharp shooter that hissed 
by my cheek so close that I felt the movement of the air 
distinctly." 

And thus the "Narrative" recites as to the third and 
last day of the battle : 

"I had been struck upon the thigh by a bullet which I 
think must have glanced and partially spent its force 
upon my saddle. It had pierced the thick cloth of my 
trousers, and two thicknesses of underclothing, but had 
not broken the skin, leaving me with an enormous bruise, 
that for a time benumbed the entire leg. At the time of 
receiving it, I heard the thump, and noticed it, and the 
hole in the cloth into which I thrust my finger, and I ex- 
perienced a feeling of relief when I found that my leg 
was not pierced." 

We shudder when we think what might have happened 
to that leg, if the bullet, when it saw Haskell, had not 
so kindly glanced and spent its force on his saddle before 
piercing the thick cloth of his breeches, and the two 
thicknesses of his underclothing. 

The second and third days brought scant renown to 
such an ambitious officer as First Lieut. Haskell, but 
immortal fame is very chary with her favors. She tries 
a man long, and she tries him hard, before wreathing 
his brow with the laurel of victory, and fitting him for a 
nitche in the Temple of Fame. Haskell realized all this 
at the close of the battle on this afternoon of July third, 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 27 

and he evidently concluded to create a niche for himself 
in the holy of holies by a page or two of romance in his 
"Narrative," and so he planned it all out. 

Haskell knew — none better than he — that the Phila- 
delphia Brigade met and repulsed the brunt of the charge 
of Pickett's Division, but he would immortalize himself 
as a hero by recording in his "Narrative," that the 
Brigade broke from the "Bloody Angle" without orders 
or reason, with no uplifted hand of Webb, or Banes, or 
Dennis O'Kane, or Martin Tschudy, or R. Penn Smith, 
or Theodore Hesser to check them ; that he, Haskell, met 
them, "a tide of rabbits," and ordered them to halt, to 
about face, and to fire, and hearing his voice they obeyed 
his command, and he led them back to glorious victory, 
and that he — as the one solitary horseman between the 
lines, only 40 yards from the enemy — repulsed Long- 
street's Corps, and thereby, therein and thereon ended the 
great conflict at Gettysburg. 

It was such a ridiculous page of fiction that if Haskell 
had survived the vicissitudes of war, he would have 
eliminated it, and if he died before the close of the Civil 
War — as he did — he would trust to luck; he trusted 
aright, for a Loyal Legion concluded to continue the 
fiction, thereby placing its laurel on Haskell's brow, 
crowning HIM the Hero of Gettysburg; and a State 
History Commission concluded to fill a niche in the 
Temple of the Immortals with the name and fame of 
First Lieutenant Frank Aretas Haskell, but not until 
fifty years after the fiction had been written, when few 
were left to refute that romance of the most vainglorious 
soldier of the Civil War. 

AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE LOSS OF 
THE PHILADELPHIA BRIGADE. 

The total number of officers and men present for duty 
of the Philadelphia Brigade, at the Battle of Gettysburg, 



28 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 



was 1,573, and the total loss was 491, given in detail, as 
to regiments in the annexed tables: 

NUMBER PRESENT FOR DUTY 



REGIMENTS 


OFFICERS 


MEN 


TOTAL 


General Staff 


4 




4 


69th 


22 


3J2 


344 


7Jst 


27 


366 


393 


72nd 


26 


447 


473 


106th 


30 


3J3 


343 


Brigade Band 


— 


i6 


16 


Totals 


n9 


J454 


J573 



LOSS OF PHILADELPHIA BRIGADE AND 
SECOND CORPS AT GETTYSBURG. 



No. 
of 


No. of Killed 


No. of "Wounded 


Captured or 
Missing 


Totals 


Regt. 


Officers 

4 

2 
2 

J 


Men 

36 

19 

42 

8 


Officers 


Men 


Officers 


Men 




69th 
■7Jst 
72nd 
106th 


8 
3 

7 
9 


72 

55 

139 

45 


2 
3 


15 
16 

2 

1 


137 
98 

192 
64 


Totals 


9 


105 


27 


211 


5 


34 


491 



TOTAL LOSS SECOND CORPS. 



No. of Killed 


No. of Wounded 


Captured or 
Missing 


Total 


Officers 


Men 
731 


Officers 


Men 


Officers 


Men 
365 




66 


270 


2923 


13 


4369 



The following table, furnished by our beloved Com- 
rade, Sylvester Byrne, was the last letter the Philadel- 
phia Brigade Association ever received from that noble 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 



29 



soul — that Comrade who loved his Regiment and 
Brigade with ardent and unfaltering affection. To the 
very last he was faithful to and watchful of his Com- 
mand. The statement was furnished for the purpose of 
correcting some errors relative to the actual losses of the 
Philadelphia Brigade. The table is printed just as it was 
given by Comrade Byrne, and is regarded as his sacred 
contribution to the Brigade's reply to Haskell's charge 
of cowardice: 



TABLE SHOWING THE LOSSES OF THE 
PHILADELPHIA BRIGADE FROM 1861 TO 1865. 



Regt. 


Killed 


Wounded 


Missing 


Died of 
Disease 


Died of 
Other Causes 


Total 


69th 
7Ist 
72nd 
I06th 

Totals 


178 

HO 

J95 

99 


346 
396 
558 
416 


J 85 
330 
165 
157 


91 

9t 
60 
8J 


J5 

6 

JO 

J4 


8)5 
963 
988 
767 


612 


I7I6 


837 


323 


45 


3533 



The total loss in killed, wounded and missing of the 
Philadelphia Brigade at Gettysburg was over 32 per 
cent., about one soldier slain to every three engaged in 
the battle. Call you this "running like rabbits?" 

The total loss of the Philadelphia Brigade during the 
Civil War was 3,533, of which number 545 were killed, 
wounded and missing at Antietam, the remaining loss of 
nearly three thousand was sustained in the 45 engage- 
ments in which the Brigade took part, and yet with the 
evidence of this loss, furnished by the United States 
Government and easily accessible to all, and on file in 
the library of the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts, that 
Order appears to stand sponsor for a "Narrative" which 
falsely proclaimed to the world that the brave men of the 



30 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

Philadelphia Brigade "ran like rabbits" from Pickett's- 
Division at Gettysburg. 

What more need be said to convince this Military 
Order of the Loyal Legion that from the beginning to 
the end, the Philadelphia Brigade was just as loyal, just 
as brave, just as heroic, as they, our comrades, and with 
this statement of facts the Association of Survivors of the 
Philadelphia Brigade calls upon the Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion, Commandery of Massachusetts, and the 
History Commission of V/isconsin, to retract the state- 
ment made in the volumes published by them during the 
year 1908, as to cowardice. 

In meeting and repulsing the charge of Pickett's Divis- 
ion at the Bloody Angle of Gettysburg, the High Water 
Mark of the Civil V/ar, the Philadelphia Brigade gained 
imperishable fame that will live in history as long as our 
country will exist as a nation, and that renown is so 
irrevocably fixed in the annals of the War that it can 
never be impaired while time itself shall last. 

Since the foregoing reply was formulated, to the 
charge of cowardice made under the auspices of the Loyal 
Legion of Massachusetts, the Philadelphia Brigade 
Association has received a book of 185 pages, entitled 
"The Battle of Gettysburg, by Frank Aretas Haskell, 
Wisconsin History Commission, Reprint No. i," an 
edition of 2,500 copies, printed under authority of the 
State of Wisconsin. In printing this book these words 
appear in the preface : 

"The Wisconsin History Commission has, in accord- 
ance with its fixed policy, reverted to the original edition, 
which is here presented entire, exactly as first printed." 

And this is what that "History Commission" records 
on pages 9 and 10 regarding the Eleventh Corps: 

"Between three and four o'clock in the afternoon the 
enemy, now in overwhelming force, resumed the battle 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 31 

with spirit. The portion of the Eleventh Corps making 
but feeble opposition to the advancing enemy, soon be- 
gan to fall back. Back in disorganized masses they fled 
into the town, hotly pursued, and in lanes, in barns, in 
yards and cellars, throwing away their arms, they sought 
to hide like rabbits, and were captured, unresisting, by 
hundreds." 

The Loyal Legion of Massachusetts hadn't the courage 
to print that paragraph in their book. 

These regiments formed the Eleventh Corps at Gettys- 
burg: 17th Conn., 82d 111., 33d Mass., 41st, 45th, 54th, 
58th, 68th, 75th, iigth, 134th, 136th, 154th and 157th New 
York; 27th, 73d, 74th and 153d Penna.; 25th, 55th, 6ist, 
73d, 75th, 82d and 107th Ohio, and 26th Wisconsin. How 
do the Survivors of these Regiments regard the state- 
ment of the History Commission of Wisconsin, that 
"they sought to hide like rabbits?" and that the loss usu- 
ally sustained by the Eleventh Corps was in prisoners? 

And this is how the great State of Wisconsin, through 
its History Commission, maligns General Sickles and 
President Lincoln, who put upon General Sickles' shoul- 
ders the stars of a Major-General. (Pages 40 and 41). 
The Loyal Legion of Massachusetts eliminated the slan- 
der against Gen. Sickles and President Lincoln. 

"General Sickles commenced to advance his whole 
corps, from the general line, straight to the front, with a 
view to occupy the second ridge, along and near the road. 
What his purpose could have been is past conjecture. 
It was not ordered by General Meade, as I heard him say, 
and he disapproved as soon as it was made known to him. 
Generals Hancock and Gibbon, as they saw the move in 
progress, criticised its propriety sharply, as I know, and 
foretold quite accurately what would be the result. I 
suppose the truth probably is that General Sickles sup- 
posed he was doing for the best ; but he was neither born 



32 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

nor bred a soldier. But one can scarcely tell what may 
have been the motives of such a man, a politician, and 
some other things, exclusive of the BARTON KEY 
affair, a man after show and notoriety, and newspaper 
fame, and the adulation of the mob, there is a grave re- 
sponsibility on those in whose hands are the lives of ten 
thousand men; AND ON THOSE WHO PUT STARS 
ON MEN'S SHOULDERS, TOO! Bah! I kindle 
when I see some things I have to see. 

"It is understood in the Army that the President 
thanked the slayer of Barton Key for SAVING THE 
DAY at Gettysburg. Does the country know any 
better than the President that Meade, Hancock and Gib- 
bon were entitled to some little share of such credit?" 

It is inconceivable that the great State of Wisconsin 
would in any way lend herself to the dissemination of 
what is not only untrustworthy, but absolutely scanda- 
lous, malevolent and false information, except it was 
done in ignorance of facts. It is still more inconceivable 
that the Loyal Legion of Massachusetts, soldiers them- 
selves, would act as sponsors or in any way help, aid or 
assist in depriving fellow soldiers of the honors fairly 
and bravely won in a battle where their loss was 491 of 
a total of less than 1,500 men, except they had given no 
heed to the statements before publication. 

We believe that the State of Wisconsin and the Loyal 
Legion of Massachusetts can do no less as American 
citizens and soldiers than to promptly disclaim all respon- 
sibility for the statements set forth in Lieut. Haskell's 
book. For however good Haskell's record as a soldier 
is, yet the fact must clearly appear to every intelligent 
mind that a man who would speak falsely of his superior 
officers and even go so far — at least in one case (Sickles) 
— as to bring to life out of the long dead past, a sad, sad 
epoch, which was no fault of his — displays in such writ- 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 33 

ing a spirit unworthy of any American ; and his self laud- 
ation of what he did — would cause anyone who was ever 
on a field of battle to use one of Haskell's expressions, 
"Bah." 

A refusal to make this public disclaimer we feel would 
place both the State of Wisconsin and Loyal Legion of 
Massachusetts in a position which, to say it very mildly, 
Vvould be the reverse of creditable, and put them in the 
attitude of sharing the ridicule and contempt which the 
narrative of Lieutenant Haskell deserves. 



NOTES, CORRESPONDENCE AND REMARKS. 

NOTE NO. I. 

This letter from General Alex. S. Webb is made a part 
of this paper : 

NEW YORK MONUMENTS COMMISSION 

BATTLE FIELDS OF GETTYSBURG AND 

CHATANOOGA 

RIVERDALE-ON-HUDSON 

NEW YORK. 

September 7, igog. 
My dear Frazier: 

I could not find your address, but I had Dampman's, 
and wrote to him to try and obtain action on Haskell's 
book which is now circulated by the thousands to take 
from our Brigade and its Commander all the glory and 
reputation we acquired at the Bloody Angle of Gettys- 
burg. 

So make it certain that our answer to the Massachu- 
setts Commandery be strong and clear. What Haskell 
wrote he wrote in ignorance. He paraded with the 
stragglers and prisoners behind a fighting Brigade and 



34 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

thought he was leading a Division. 

Now, Frazier, let this denial of Haskell's claim be 
strong and yet courteous. He is dead. Gibbon is dead. 
Hancock dead. What a time to proclaim this falsehood. 
Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) ALEX. S. WEBB, 
Brevet Maj. General, U. S. A. 

NOTE NO. 2. 

WHAT LINCOLN SAID. 

It was Abraham Lincoln who said at the dedication 
of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg: 

"But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot 
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave 
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have conse- 
crated it far above our power to add or detract. The 
world will little note nor long remember what we say 
here, but it can never forget what they did here." 

And yet the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Com- 
mandery of Massachusetts, and the Wisconsin History 
Commission, in so far as they authorized, or are respon- 
sible for the publication of the Haskell "Narrative" of the 
Battle of Gettysburg, are surely, surely doing what they 
can to detract from what the living and the dead did 
there. 

NOTE NO. 3. 

FOR CAREFUL CONSIDERATION, 
A typewritten copy of this reply of the Philadelphia 
Brigade Association, before being placed in the hands of 
the printer, was sent to the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion, Commandery of Massachusetts; to the Wiscon- 
sin History Commission, and to the Governor of Wis- 
consin, asking if they had any explanation to make as 
to the statements contained in Haskell's "Narrative," 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 35 

advising them that we would gladly give it in our printed 
book. 

As yet no reply has been received from the Loyal 
Legion of Massachusetts, and for this grave discourtesy 
we are at a loss to account, unless it be that after con- 
sideration the facts submitted did not warrant them in 
defending the position in which they were placed, and to 
acknowledge themselves in error v/ould, to some extent, 
at least, stultify themselves. 

The Governor of Wisconsin, who is an ex-officio mem- 
ber of the Wisconsin History Commission, writes under 
date of February 24, 1910, scarcely referring at all to 
the matter under consideration, i. e., the conduct of the 
Philadelphia Brigade in the Battle of Gettysburg. He 
does, however, say that the purpose of the Commission 
is to publish such material as from considerations of 
rarity or general excellence it is deemed desirable to dis- 
seminate. Haskell's book certainly comes under one 
of these classes. We do not believe that among any 
writings of either Union men or Confederates in all 
the United States, such a rare book as Haskell's can 
be found. The Governor of Wisconsin says that Haskell 
in his story to his brother puts down in his letter "what 
he saw, or thought he saw." 

It would seem that comment on this is useless. That 
history should be what the writer "saw, OR THOUGHT 
HE SAW," is at least novel. 

Chas. E. Estabrook, a Comrade of the Grand Army, 
and its representative on the Wisconsin History Com- 
mission, and its chairman, under date of February 17, 
1910, while writing a somewhat lengthy letter, neglects, 
also, to write of the matter under consideration, but says, 
among other things: 

"The subject of the criticism of the Eleventh Corps, by 
Haskell, in his account of Gettysburg, was considered by 



36 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

me, and I contemplated writing notes, OR GIVING 
THE LATER, AND WHAT I THINK THE MORE 
ACCURATE VIEW. I, however, concluded, in view of 
the rule which we adopted, to have the other and later 
account of the Battle of Gettysburg prepared by a Wis- 
consin man, from the Wisconsin point of view, and some 
months ago asked a staff officer, who served in that Corps, 
to write an accovmt of the Eleventh Corps at Gettysburg, 
which he consented to do. This v/ill be published as 
soon as practicable after the same is delivered to the 
Commission." 

It would seem from this that Chairman Estabrook, 
Past Department Commander, of Wisconsin, Grand 
Army of the Republic, does not believe the statement 
made by Haskell in his "Narrative," and that it is neces- 
sary to have another book published to state truthfully 
what the Eleventh Corps did. It would seem that it is 
also needless to make any comment on the position taken 
by Comrade Estabrook, Chairman of the Wisconsin His- 
tory Commission. It is to be hoped that this staff offi- 
cer's book will be written from the stand-point of what 
he saw, and not from what he thought he saw. 

THE HISTORY COMMISSION'S VIEW. 
Reuben G. Thwaites, Secretary and Editor of the Wis- 
consin History Commission, speaking for the Commis- 
sion, writes thus: 

"OPINIONS, OR ERRORS OF FACT, on the part 
of the respective authors represented, both in original 
narratives and in reprints issued by the Commission 
HAVE NOT, NOR WILL THEY BE MODIFIED 
BY THE LATTER. For all statements of whatever 
character, the author alone is responsible. 

"Could any plainer statement than the foregoing be 
phrased in the English language, to indicate that this 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 37 

Commission certainly does not endorse whatever criti- 
cisms may have contemporaneously been offered by Lieu- 
tenant Haskell?" 

As the question has been asked us we reply: As Has- 
kell has been dead for more than 45 years, and the foul 
slanders were made public by the Wisconsin History 
Commission in November, 1908, defaming President Lin- 
coln, Generals Sickles, Howard, Doubleday, Barlow, 
Schurz, Geary, Webb, Banes and other officers, and thou- 
sands of brave soldiers, it certainly does look to the Com- 
rades of the Philadelphia Brigade as though the Wiscon- 
sin History fully endorsed everything that Haskell wrote. 
Just how the Corps, Brigade and Regimental Associa- 
tions, Grand Army Posts, Loyal Legion Commanderies, 
public libraries, the newspaper press, and others to whom 
this "Reply" will be sent will regard the actions of the 
Wisconsin Commission and the Massachusetts Loyal 
L,egion has yet to be determined. 

Writing further. Secretary and Editor Thwaites says: 

"If Haskell's account was worth reprinting at all (and 
we thought it well worth doing), the only course open 
to us, as historians, was to present it just as it was orig- 
inally issued, and not in the emasculated form adopted 
by the Dartmouth editor, and the Massachusetts Loyal 
Legion; changes of such character in a contemporary 
document are unwarranted, and utterly ruin it as his- 
torical material." 

As this seems to be a question of ethics between history 
makers, it is up to the Dartmouth editor, and the Massa- 
chusetts Loyal Legion to satisfy the Wisconsin Com- 
mission why the unwarranted emasculation was made 
of the Haskell "Narrative." 

The Wisconsin History Commission concludes its 
letter of explanation and excuse to the Philadelphia 
Brigade Association in these words: 



38 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

"In reprinting various other rare Wisconsin Civil War 
material, as we intend to do, it may happen that the 
original authors thus selected for treatment have criti- 
cised certain commands; it certainly v/ould not tend to 
smooth the path of the Commission if each such com- 
mand was thereupon to pass condemnatory resolutions. 
WE shall certainly hope to be spared such treatment." 

In reprinting the Haskell "Narrative" the Wisconsin 
History Commission invited the criticism it justly de- 
serves, and must expect to receive ; and in their reprints 
in the future, if it permits their authors to criticise other 
commands — as they intend to do — They cannot escape 
the condemnatory resolutions they hope to be spared. 

The Man of Nazareth said : Give, and it shall be given 
unto you; good measure, pressed down, and running 
over, shall men give into your bosom. For v/ith the 
same measure that ye mete, withal it shall be measured 
to you again. 

LETTER FROM MAJOR ROBERTS. 
The following letter, under date of May 15, 1877, was 
written by Major Samuel Roberts, of the 7 2d Regiment, 
Pa. Vols., to a Comrade and friend: 

"Webb's Brigade was composed of the 6gth, 71st, 72d 
and io6th Pennsylvania Regiments; the io6th Regiment 
had been sent to the right to reinforce Gen, Howard, 
leaving the other three Regiments of the Brigade to re- 
ceive the shock of Pickett's advance. 

"The Brigade was not entrenched, nor driven back and 
rallied by Webb, The left wing of the 71st Regiment 
fell back a few yards ; the 69th maintained their position, 
as did the right wing of the 71st, The 72d, which held 
a position to the left, and a short distance to the rear of 
the Brigade, moved by the right flank about one hundred 
yards, and came to a front about sixty yards in front of 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 39 

Armistead's Confederate Brigade. Armistead fell only 
a few yards in front of the 7 2d Regiment. 

"With the exception of a slight change of position of 
the left wing of the 71st Regiment, the Brigade not only 
held its position, but advanced and captured several col- 
ors, and the prisoners taken exceeded in number what was 
left of the Brigade, which lost nearly fifty per cent, in 
killed and wounded — the killed and wounded of the yad 
was over fifty per cent. 

"Cushing's Battery, which was attached to the Brigade, 
was served until men were not left sufficient to work 
the guns. Gushing obtained volunteers from the Brig- 
ade, who served the guns until Gushing was killed. 

"Webb's Brigade, called the Philadelphia Brigade, was 
originally commanded by Gol. E. D. Baker, who was 
killed at Ball's Bluff. It was the Second Brigade, Sec- 
ond Division, Second Gorps, Army of the Potomac, and 
forms the prominent feature in Rothermel's painting of 
the Battle of Gettysburg." 

NOTE NO. 5- 

GETTYSBURG BATTLE FIELD DISPATCHES. 

From official dispatches sent from Headquarters, Army 
of the Potomac, to the War Department, during the prog- 
ress of the third day's fighting, which were given out to 
the Associated Press about midnight, being held back 
until assured that the Union Army was victorious. 

"Gettysburg, July 3d, 3 P. M. — A great attack is now 
being made on our left center by a powerful column of 
Rebels. We can see them advancing in hosts. Their 
lines are half a mile in length. They have to march a 
mile before they can strike a line. All of our artillery 
has now opened on them and we can see them falling' 
by hundreds. In a few minutes they will strike our line, 
and the fight will be at close quarters." 



40 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

"Gettysburg, July 3d, 4.30 P. M. — We have won a great 
victory. The fight is over and the Rebel lines hurled 
back in wild disorder. Longstreet's whole Corps seems 
to have been swept away, from our fire. The field is 
covered with Rebel dead. Wild cheers ring out from 
every part of our lines. Thousands of Rebel prisoners 
are being brought in. Sheaves of battle flags and thou- 
sands of small arms are being gathered in by our men. 
The rejoicing among our men is indescribable. 

"Gettysburg, July 3d, 5 P. M. — Our victory is more 
complete than we could dare hope for. An immense col- 
umn of the enemy, at least 20,000 strong, attacked our 
left center and v^rere utterly destroyed by our fire. The 
column consisted of Longstreet's Corps, and but few of 
them are left. Nearly all were either killed, wounded, 
or are now prisoners in our hands. I hear that Hancock, 
Gibbon and Webb are severely wounded. The Philadel- 
phia Brigade is almost destroyed. They met the most 
violent rush of the enemy and lost terribly. Col. O'Kane, 
of the 69th, is killed, and there is hardly a field officer left 
in the Brigade." 

"Gettysburg, July 3d, 10 P. M. — Our victory grows 
more complete as we get time to realize its magnitude. 
It looks as though nearly all of Longstreet's Corps had 
been destroyed. The field in front of the Second Corps, 
where the brunt of the attack fell, is covered with Rebel 
dead. In front of the Philadelphia Brigade they lie in 
great piles. Hundreds of Rebel officers are among the 
fallen. Gen. Armistead, of Pickett's Division, fell within 
our lines. He was shot through the body and is now 
dying. The Rebel Generals Garnet and Kemper, fell in 
front of the 69th and 71st Pennsylvania Volunteers. All 
the field officers of the former Regiment are killed. The 
slaughter on both sides has indeed been frightful. Our 
men are busy gathering in the wounded, many of whom 
must die during the night for want of proper attention." 



THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 41 

NOTE NO. 6. 

LETTER FROM AN INTIMATE FRIEND OF 
LIEUTENANT HASKELL. 

Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 19, 1910. 
"I am in receipt of your favor and note what you say 
about the extract from the book published by the V/is- 
consin History Commission relative to the description of 
the Battle of Gettysburg, by Col. Haskell. It confirms 
what I stated in my letter to the "Public Ledger" in 
September last. My daughter, who resides in Milwau- 
kee, has sent me a copy of the book that you mention.; 
I knew Col Haskell intimately and was confident from 
the intimation that I possessed that had Col. Haskell 
lived to see the end of the Civil War he would have modi- 
fied his description of the battle, as compared to that 
shown in the publication made by the Loyal Legion of 
Massachusetts. 

Yours very truly, 

W. YATES SELLECK." 

Mr. Selleck was the military agent at Washington for 
the State of Wisconsin. The remains of Col. Haskell 
were forwarded to Mr. Selleck, at Washington, D. C, 
who sent them by express, on June 7, 1864, to Haskell's 
mother, at Portage City, Wisconsin. In Mr. Selleck's 
letter to the "Public Ledger" of Philadelphia, under date 
of September 21, igog, he said: "I was intimately ac- 
quainted with Haskell and had several conversations v^/ith 
him after the Battle of Gettysburg in regard to that bat- 
tle, and I have good reason for stating that had Haskell 
lived until the close of the War the criticims contained in 
his diary would not have been made public." 



42 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 

NOTE NO. 7. 

THE CONCLUDING NOTE. 
What amusing history makers the Companions of the- 
Loyal Legion of Massachusetts and the Comrades of the 
Wisconsin History Commission are. The State of Wis- 
consin enacted a law creating a History Commission, and 
straightway it begins printing very costly books, which 
they claim to be "histories of great battles of the Civil 
War," one of which "histories" the Governor of Wiscon- 
sin- sententiously says: "Is what the author saw, OR 
THOUGHT HE SAW" ; and because of its inaccuracy 
the chairman of that History Commission contemplated 
correcting by himself, "writing notes giving the more 
accurate view," but instead engaged a staff officer, who 
really saw what he thought he saw, to write a book 
correcting the inaccuracies that Chairman and Comrade 
Estabrook himself contemplated doing ; and in the mean- 
time the Secretary and Editor of the Commission "in- 
tends reprinting other rare Wisconsin Civil War 
material," regardless of the supremely ridiculous opin- 
ions or errors of facts of the authors, thereby continu- 
ing to hold the State of Wisconsin responsible for the 
ridicule and expense that attach to such so-called his- 
tories, one of which a distinguished officer of the Civil 
War pithily characterizes as "inaccurate, misleading, in- 
decent, venomous, scandalous and vainglorious," 



CAPT. EDWARD THOMPSON, 69th. 
CAPT JOHN D. ROGERS, 71st. 
JOHN W. DAMPMAN, 71st. 
THOS. H. EATON, 72d. 
FRANK WEIBLE, yad. 
WM. H. NEILER, io6th. 
JAMES THOMPSON, io6th. 

Committee on Publication, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






013 702 528 



